Sir Colin Davis: Conductor, Knitter

By Ann Shayne 4/16/13

Dear Kay,
Heavy heavy HEAVY hearted about Boston, especially about trying to talk about it with young people.
Amid all this, a big thanks to linguistics prof/Mayan scholar/sublime alto/knitting designer Mareike Sattler for passing along a lovely bit of conversation from another multitalented, creative soul.
The celebrated British conductor Sir Colin Davis died this week. Here he is, talking about that other thing he loved to do: knitting. At minute 14:01 . . .

And here he is, conducting Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor. I hesitate to post this, because it’s so sad. But it’s also transcendently beautiful, and it’s the first thing that came up when I poked around in search of Colin Davis doing what he did when he wasn’t knitting.

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Simply beautiful. Sometimes I just need to hear something or see something beautiful even if it is sad. Lately for me it is the SF Gay Men’s Chorus: Testimony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XZRNL9ZnyM), but this is equally moving, and I needed it today.

Thanks for this post. I’m a classically trained musician – I graduated with an MM last Spring in music performance. I knew how important a role Sir Colin Davis played in my life and the lives of my fellow musicians, but to see his life celebrated by those outside of music community is very heartening.

That is so lovely. Sorrowful, but there is always something in the beauty of musical sadness that lifts my soul and keeps me going. I have always thought that knitting and music live in the same quiet part of corner of my soul.

Isn’t this what the Greeks taught us? That one of the great roles of art is to be a cathartic experience, a balm to the human soul and to ease the human condition. Some times the best way to deal with grief is to feel it deep to our bones, and often times we call on the artists to be the vehicle (or conductor) for that journey. A beautiful post that ties this world together a little bit more.

when i was growing up born nj our family
was sent to ma by the company my dad worked for
simmons the original companmy we lived in waban
came to love this part of our country
my heart is really heavey tonight
i love boston

Thank you for sharing this recording, Ann. The opening! The fugues! The interplay between voice and instruments! The exquisitely slow tempo!
I did not know that Sir Colin had died and I certainly did not know that he knit!
My heart goes out to those who died or were injured and their families.
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